Robert Smithson Biography

Occup.Artist
FromUSA
BornJanuary 2, 1938
DiedJuly 20, 1973
Aged35 years
Robert Smithson, a renowned American artist recognized for his innovative work in the land art activity, was born upon January 2, 1938, in Passaic, New Jacket, United States. The boy of Susan Battle each other and Irving Smithson, Robert matured bordered naturally, which played a crucial role in molding his artistic vision. He attended the Art Pupils League of New York City and also the Brooklyn Museum Institution to hone his creative abilities.

Smithson's very early jobs contained paints influenced by the Abstract Expressionism movement. He after that transitioned to a brand-new type of expression based on minimalism, entailing making use of materials such as glass, mirrors, and neon lights. This phase marked the start of his expedition of the partnership in between art and the setting.

Throughout the 1960s, he came to be thinking about the land art activity, focusing on producing large-scale sculptures and installments utilizing natural elements such as earth, rocks, and water. His most prominent and also famous job, "Spiral Jetty," was created in 1970. This 1,500-foot-long coil constructed from rocks, earth, and also salt crystals expands into the Great Salt Lake in Utah, showcasing the interaction in between synthetic art and also its native environments.

Smithson was likewise a prolific writer, whose essays as well as posts use understandings right into his artistic viewpoint. His job "Decline and also the New Monuments" highlights the idea of worsening, a procedure of energy dispersal within a system, reflecting the means Smithson looked for to convey the impermanence of the globe and the inexorable degeneration of all things.

His imaginative trip was not a singular one; he belonged to a network of musicians that shared his interest for taking down the obstacles in between art and also the environment. Among them were his wife, musician Nancy Holt, and also fellow land musicians Michael Heizer and Richard Long. Smithson's collaborations as well as exchanges with these musicians stimulated his creative growth and brought about innovative projects such as the "Non-Sites," indoor installations composed of photos and maps alongside gathered samples of rocks, dust, and also various other materials from particular exterior locations.

As a critical number in the land art motion, Smithson's impact on modern art is undeniable. His work has actually reverberated with succeeding generations of musicians, such as Andy Goldsworthy as well as Maya Lin, that remain to engage with concepts of environmentalism and the partnership between the human-made and the natural world.

Regretfully, on July 20, 1973, Robert Smithson's life was unfortunately shortened in an airplane accident while checking websites for his following job in Amarillo, Texas. He was only 35 years of ages. Although his career was fairly brief, Smithson's effect on art background has been extensive. His tradition survives on through the one-of-a-kind lens with which he accepted the brevity of the world, boldly tough as well as broadening the boundaries of art.

Our collection contains 33 quotes who is written / told by Robert.

Related authors: Robert Smith (Musician), Andy Goldsworthy (Artist), Maya Lin (Architect), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

33 Famous quotes by Robert Smithson

Small: The museum spreads its surfaces everywhere, and becomes an untitled collection of generalizations that
"The museum spreads its surfaces everywhere, and becomes an untitled collection of generalizations that mobilize the eye"
Small: Some artists imagine theyve got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them.
"Some artists imagine they've got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them. As a result, they end up supporting a cultural prison that is out of their control"
Small: From the top of the quarry cliffs, one could see the New Jersey suburbs bordered by the New York City s
"From the top of the quarry cliffs, one could see the New Jersey suburbs bordered by the New York City skyline"
Small: Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather tha
"Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his limits"
Small: A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disen
"A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world"
Small: A vacant white room with lights is still a submission to the neutral. Works of art seen in such spaces
"A vacant white room with lights is still a submission to the neutral. Works of art seen in such spaces seem to be going through a kind of esthetic convalescence"
Small: Parks are idealizations of nature, but nature in fact is not a condition of the ideal
"Parks are idealizations of nature, but nature in fact is not a condition of the ideal"
Small: Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification
"Language operates between literal and metaphorical signification"
Small: Banal words function as a feeble phenomena that fall into their own mental bogs of meaning
"Banal words function as a feeble phenomena that fall into their own mental bogs of meaning"
Small: The museums and parks are graveyards above the ground- congealed memories of the past that act as a pre
"The museums and parks are graveyards above the ground- congealed memories of the past that act as a pretext for reality"
Small: Questions about form seem as hopelessly inadequate as questions about content
"Questions about form seem as hopelessly inadequate as questions about content"
Small: Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscape
"Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art "
Small: Nature is never finished
"Nature is never finished"
Small: Language thus becomes monumental because of the mutations of advertising
"Language thus becomes monumental because of the mutations of advertising"
Small: I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day
"I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day apart from representation"
Small: Arts development should be dialectical and not metaphysical
"Art's development should be dialectical and not metaphysical"
Small: Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions
"Art history is less explosive than the rest of history, so it sinks faster into the pulverized regions of time"
Small: An emotion is suggested and demolished in one glance by certain words
"An emotion is suggested and demolished in one glance by certain words"
Small: Words for mental processes are all derived from physical things
"Words for mental processes are all derived from physical things"
Small: Visiting a museum is a matter of going from void to void
"Visiting a museum is a matter of going from void to void"
Small: Language should find itself in the physical world, and not end up locked in an idea in somebodys head
"Language should find itself in the physical world, and not end up locked in an idea in somebody's head"
Small: Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is
"Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is"
Small: Artists are expected to fit into fraudulent categories
"Artists are expected to fit into fraudulent categories"
Small: Abstraction is everybodys zero but nobodys nought
"Abstraction is everybody's zero but nobody's nought"
Small: When a finished work of 20th century sculpture is placed in an 18th century garden, it is absorbed by t
"When a finished work of 20th century sculpture is placed in an 18th century garden, it is absorbed by the ideal representation of the past, thus reinforcing political and social values that are no longer with us"
Small: Museums are tombs, and it looks like everything is turning into a museum
"Museums are tombs, and it looks like everything is turning into a museum"
Small: History is representational, while time is abstract both of these artifices may be found in museums, wh
"History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy"
Small: Painting, sculpture and architecture are finished, but the art habit continues
"Painting, sculpture and architecture are finished, but the art habit continues"
Small: Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us t
"Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future"
Small: Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development
"Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development"
Small: Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem
"Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem"
Small: Language should be an ever developing procedure and not an isolated occurrence
"Language should be an ever developing procedure and not an isolated occurrence"
Small: History is a facsimile of events held together by finally biographical information
"History is a facsimile of events held together by finally biographical information"